Martin Charnin (born November 24, 1934) is an
American lyricist, writer, and
theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist for the hit
musical Annie.
Born in
Washington Heights in New York City, he attended
Music & Art High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and graduated from
Cooper Union. Charnin began his theatrical career as a performer, appearing as one of the Jets in the original production of
West Side Story. His first assignment as a lyricist was
Hot Spot (1963), with music by
Mary Rodgers. He has directed and produced numerous nightclub acts for
Dionne Warwick,
Nancy Wilson and
Mary Travers. In 1972, he conceived, produced, wrote and directed several television variety specials. And in 1972, he won two primetime Emmy Awards for
S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin, a variety television special that starred
Jack Lemmon and
Fred Astaire. He also directed and produced various television specials "Get Happy" and "Dames at Sea." He made his stage directing debut with
Nash at Nine, a 1973
revue he conceived (based on the works of
Ogden Nash and starring
E.G. Marshall). He has written and collaborated with
Charles Strouse,
Harold Arlen,
Richard Rodgers and Mary Rodgers. In 1974, he supplied music and lyrics to the hit "The Best Thing You've Ever Done", sung by
Barbra Streisand on her album
The Way We Were and
Maman.
Works
Stage
- Kaleidoscope (1957)
- Fallout Revue (1959)
- The Girls......
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